Dynamight Studios’ Kickstarted MMO, Fractured, is slowly inching ever-so-close towards an official release. The team is currently working diligently around the clock to fix bugs, address mechanical hiccups, and gameplay glitches. Following the last alpha play-test they held, which resulted in the weekend test being cut short due to some serious bugs affecting the gameplay, they decided to make February’s playtest open for everyone between February 4th and February 10th.

The news was rolled out over on the Fractured MMO website, where they informed the gaming audience that they will be testing out some of the new live features that they discussed in the roadmap blog post back in December of 2019, which includes the new social features for both parties and guilds.

Parties will be able to share monster kill rights, as well as a global private chat, and the ability to see other party members on the mini-map. Guilds will have access to many of the same features as parties but will also share access to houses built by guild members, form alliances with other guilds, and wage war against other guilds.

If you’re curious about what features are already present in the game, YouTuber GRM Adrian.

The core of the game has some interesting features, but it’s still a far cry – mechanically and playability wise – from games like Grinding Gear Games’ Path of Exile or Path of Exile 2.

However, the sandbox elements are what could readily separate it from every other competitor out there at the moment. Being able to claim and share land, as well as level up based on exploration, add whole new layers to emergent player interactions and leveling.

For the upcoming playtest, claim management will allow players to extend claims of land and houses to friends, guild mates, and party members… or even everyone, if you so desire. This will allow for players who just meet to form an alliance, build a house and maybe form a guild later or go their separate ways when it’s time to venture further out into the fantastical world of Fractured.

That’s another really neat thing about the game, you don’t level through grinding. You level by gaining knowledge from encounters you have with monsters, plants, reagents, items, and locations. You build up what’s called “Knowledge”, and it works as your experience points to unlock new skills, abilities, and enchantments, almost similar to the way “Research” works in games like Starbound, where you can unlock new equipment, mechs, and metaphysical properties by gaining “Research” through exploration and encounters.

I really love this way of leveling because it forces players to keep finding new areas to explore; new locations to visit; new monsters to slay; and new people to meet. However, it’s not all just about the nascence of new experiences, you can also gain additional information about entities you’ve already encountered by encountering them again. So say you kill a dire wolf and gain some knowledge from the kill. Well, you can kill the wolves again to learn more about their attacks. Kill them again to learn more about their damage properties, location propensities, and other details.

The core foundation for Fractured seems really cool, so it’s something worth keeping an eye on if you’re into MMOs or looking for a sandbox experience that isn’t just another typical survival sim experience.

You’ll be able to play-test the game for yourself and check out some of the new features starting Tuesday, February 4, 2pm CET (8am ET) if you backed the game. For anyone who simply registers on the game’s website, you’ll be able to access the open play-test starting Thursday, February 6, 2pm CET (8am ET), even if you didn’t back the game. The open play-test will conclude on Monday, February 10, 10am CET (2am ET).

You can learn more about Fractured or register for the play-test by visiting the official website.